Verse 32 contains what has been termed a “corrective or,” that is, using the conjunction “or” to clarify something that had been incorrectly stated in the first clause. In this case, the information that the people of Morianton wanted to flee north invoked a mental map of the Nephite lands. The land Bountiful was on the southern side of the narrow neck of land, and was the division between the land southward and the land northward, which Mormon called Desolation. Thus, the mental map probably triggered the statement about the people in the land Bountiful. However, that was not what should have been said. Either Mormon in writing, or Joseph Smith in translating, made an error. The “or” provided the correct, intended, meaning. It was Moroni who feared that Morianton would unite with the people in the land northward, and therefore moved to prevent that from happening.